Immigration
A 1987 entry law, criminalised irregular migration and documented detention abuses
Law 6/1987 governs entry and residence and Law 19/2010 criminalises irregular migration. Libya has not ratified the Refugee Convention, and conditions in migrant detention have been extensively documented by UN bodies.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Directorate for Combating Illegal Migration under the Ministry of Interior, operating alongside armed groups in practice. UNHCR operates with a limited mandate.
Governing law
- Law 6/1987 on entry, residence and exit of foreigners
- Law 19/2010 on combating irregular migration
- Law 24/2010 on Libyan nationality
In practice
Libya is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention and has no asylum procedure, so there is no legal status a refugee can hold; UNHCR operates under a narrow arrangement covering only certain nationalities. Law 19/2010 makes irregular entry, stay and exit criminal offences punishable by imprisonment with no statutory time limit on detention pending removal, which is the legal basis for indefinite detention. UN investigative bodies have documented arbitrary detention, forced labour, sexual violence and extortion in both official and unofficial facilities, and have described some conduct as potentially amounting to crimes against humanity. Describing Libyan immigration law without that record would be a material omission rather than a neutral simplification.